The student news site of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

tjTODAY
The student news site of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

tjTODAY
The student news site of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

tjTODAY
Karen Lee

Karen Lee, Managing Editor

Karen Lee is a junior at Jefferson who has been a part of tjToday since her freshman year. Karen decided to continue journalism because she likes interviewing people and writing articles. In her free time, she likes to read and ponder.

All content by Karen Lee
Article by Grace Sharma; Design by Karen Lee

Article & design by Karen Lee

Reporting & design by Karen Lee

Reporting & design by Karen Lee

Article & design by Karen Lee

The four first-year residents sit at a desk, showcasing their unique personalities in the series.

‘Resident Playbook’ (2025) was funny to watch, but has no closure

Karen Lee, Managing Editor
June 9, 2025
New weapons detectors were installed this morning through a pilot program required by Superintendent Dr. Michelle C. Reid after an incident at West Potomac High School. “These threats [have] only happened once, but you can never really know when [it will happen],” junior Laura Moreno Hernandez said. “I think this precaution, if we get used to it, will be [fine]. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

News Brief: Pilot program for weapons detection system installed this morning

Karen Lee, Managing Editor
June 6, 2025
Students take taffy from the tables in Nobel Commons. “Get the word out and let everyone know,” principal Michael Mukai said. “We want to share this moment before we go away [for spring break].”

Administration organizes first-ever Taffy Day for students and staff

Karen Lee, Managing Editor
April 12, 2025

3.24.25 Morning Announcements

Tori Isidro, Karen Lee, and Grace Sharma
March 28, 2025
The Philharmonia students rehearse in the auditorium during class. “I try practicing as soon as I get home," sophomore symphonic violinist Kelly Kang said. "I know if I don't then I'm just gonna push it back and not practice.”

[Photo] Orchestra holds annual pre-assessment concert during 8th period

Shuyan Liu, Staff Writer
March 23, 2025
Juniors Isaac Park, Kohlen Farah and sophomore Rudy Balu practice their snare drums during rehearsal. “If someone adjusts their volume, we have to be reactive enough to play with them,” Balu said. “But we also have to be assertive enough that we maintain a sense of cohesiveness in the group.”

[Photo] Beyond the beat: Jefferson’s drumline begins rehearsals

Zachary Qin, Staff Writer
January 10, 2025
Senior Jason Hao’s group discusses how to solve the math problems for the Jane Street Estimathon, which was hosted on Dec. 4 by the Varsity Math Team (VMT). “I normally go to VMT as my main club,” Hao said. “[The contest] went very well for my team, because we got first [place]. I think it was really fun.”

Varsity Math Team organizes Estimathon with Jane Street

Karen Lee, Managing Editor
December 9, 2024
With one of the concepts for this album being “Lover,” TXT released concept photos with a cute and lighthearted theme. Showcasing their wholesome sides, they were filled with images that are sure to melt your hearts.

TXT’s ‘The Star Chapter: Sanctuary’ has short songs, but sweet lyrics

Karen Lee, Managing Editor
November 14, 2024
It can be nerve-racking to walk into school on the first day, knowing absolutely nothing about your teachers. While it may be beneficial to talk about who your teachers are to your friends, it is harmful to student-teacher relationships if you only talk about bad incidents that you had with them.

Sharing negative opinions about teachers does more harm than good

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
September 6, 2024
Seniors Amith Polineni and Dora Bowen-Glazeroff present their project on automated aquaponics, which they set up in the school’s greenhouse. “I think everything went very well. We practiced a ton. I don't really have any regrets, I loved how it went,” Polineni said. “We got visuals to show everyone so everything went really well. Having a live demo where you can manipulate something in front of the audience really helped so that they could understand what you're saying.”

Seniors present research during annual tjSTAR

Karen Lee and Sophia Reed
May 25, 2024
Escape rooms are a fun way to hang out with friends and enjoy your time together. From solving tricky puzzles to finally opening the last door, escape rooms will never fail to amaze everyone.

The perfect bonding activity: escape rooms

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
April 13, 2024
Though students may not like these tough-to-read stories, whether it be because it is homework or it’s just hard to read, they can serve as a gateway to deeper thought and understanding of history and their identity. “This may not be your favorite book or the book you’re going to read on a beach,” Henry said. “We go through these books and we learn things that are hard and we come out better for it on the other side.”

History in our books

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
March 22, 2024
Senior David Cao poses for the camera after presenting at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) conference. “Do research that you’re actually interested in even if you don’t get anything out of it for a while,” Cao said. “It’ll give you good results eventually.”

David Cao named 2024 Regeneron STS finalist

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
February 20, 2024
A cat lays on a laptop. The evil and scheming look in their eyes, paired with a paw on the screen shows they are attempting to use osmosis to gain information. They must be stopped immediately.

Evil balls of fluff: rulers of the new world

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
February 12, 2024
The workouts were enjoyed by many and was a great opportunity for people outside of crew to try it out. “Usually, we have a pretty strict workout that's already set by the coaches,” sophomore Rhesa Hicks said. “But the seniors planned something fun and it was a really cool way to get other friends who don't do crew to come and see what the environment is like.”

Crew girls conduct fun winter conditioning workout

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
February 3, 2024
Do Do Hee and Jung Gu Won accidentally make eye contact as they follow Noh Seok Min’s son, who was acting oddly for the past few episodes. There are many scenes that display the chemistry between Jung Gu Won (Song Kang) and Do Do Hee (Kim Yoo Jung). They have lots of funny moments as they grow closer throughout the series.

‘My Demon’ (2023) captures electrifying chemistry with a prolonged plot

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
January 23, 2024
Senior Seoyoung Jun solders the board for her device as a part of her project. “I was like, 'What aids are there on the market that they use?' And I found that compared to [a lot of] other common [conditions], there wasn't much done for them,” Jun said. “It was a lot of the same technology that was used 30 years ago. So, I was like, 'I [should] try to develop something,' so I decided to develop a portable device. And then, I designed a little device that could help them recognize 3-D space.”

Regeneron STS names seven Jefferson semifinalists

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
January 17, 2024
The Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary in many of their theme parks. The company also released a movie and short film in tribute to this milestone.

Mickey Mouse has finally turned 100 years old

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
December 11, 2023
The new version update to the video game Genshin Impact has many new additional features as well as new characters and quests. The update gives players more information about the characters and explores the world even more. With the release of Fontaine a few months ago, the new update gives players more information about Fontaine and its characters. [Official Genshin Impact Website]

‘Genshin Impact’ update introduces iconic new characters and skills

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
October 28, 2023
Juniors George Evanisko, Santiago Criado and Larry Schrag and sophomore Deen Nori set up the rocket before the launch. “A big misconception about this program is that most of the effort is in building the rocket or the payload. I would argue that most of the work, literally hundreds of hours, was spent designing and planning prior to building anything,” Criado said.

NASA Student Launch Initiative Team launches rocket in Alabama

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
May 12, 2023
“I’ve found that the students are very quick to argue with me and with each other. Sometimes, we gotta move on," Levy said, "But I’d rather have that, than, [me] just talking and nobody really has any response to it, or to each other.”

Journey to the classroom

Karen Lee, Staff Writer
October 26, 2022
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